Muslims earn "peanuts" from meat business, even as India is on way to become world's largest exporter: Study

Counterview Desk
A well-known online publication, published from Malegaon, Maharashtra, has claimed in a recent study that Muslims earn "peanuts from animal slaughter in India", and the main gainers in the meat business are Hindu businessmen. Carried out by a team which works for ummid.com, the study says that India is already "on track to become world's largest bovine meat exporter", and the general perception the Muslims have gained from the trade is false.
"It is actually the government and non-Muslims who are benefiting the most from about 4.5 billion US dollar animal slaughter business", the study says, adding, "Except for Allana Sons, a 1969 company which has a major share in frozen meat export from India, and few other smaller players who are Muslims, majority of meat exporters and owners of modern abattoirs, and those associated with other related industries like bone, leather, horn, farmers, transporters, animal blood and other raw materials are mainly non-Muslims."
Contending that this fact has been "acknowledged by Hindutva groups", the study has put a "big question mark" over the statement by Union minister Maneka Gandhi, who has alleged that "revenue earned from the animal slaughter business is used for terrorism". the study comes in the wake of Maharashtra government's ban on bulls, bullocks and calves slaughter, ninth by an Indian state.
Based on interviews with beef traders and organisations working for them and going through the available records and data, the study says, "Animals are purchased in over 95% cases from farmers, majority of them being non-Muslims. Most of the transporters who ferry animals and meat from one place to another before and after slaughter are also not Muslims."
It adds, "Except for direct consumption, where also Muslims and non-Muslims both are at par in terms of taking benefits, in rest all associated business, including meat export, bone crushing and powder industry, leather industry, horn processing industry, blood processing, animal fat and soap industry, except for few exceptions, each one is dominated entirely by non-Muslims."
Giving examples, the study says, "Some prominent names are Arabian Export of Deepak Tijori, Al Kabeer Exports run by Atul Subberwal, Al-Noor Export of Ajay Sud, Mahesh Jagadale and Co, Sujata Bones of MK Deore, Dode Industries, Fine Exports, SK Leather, Ramesh Juneja & Sons, Bharat Leather, Woodland, Raymonds, Datta Soap, BS International, Sixth Sense, Natural Craft, Bounty Fashion Export, Kochhar Brothers, Ravi Exports, Kalia International, and Hindustan Unilever Ltd."
Saying that all them are "engaged in beef and the business of associated raw materials and products", the study points out, "It is also found that some of those associated with the trade have different names and identities for different countries and regions. Like, Al Kabeer is 'Samurai' in Japan, 'Falcon Foods' in the UK, and 'Tayebat Al Emarat' in the UAE. It also owns other brands like Tabarruk, Cascade and Coral Reef."
India became the world's biggest buffalo meat exporter in 2012, ahead of Brazil, says the study, adding, "A report by the US Department of Agriculture says buffaloes are inexpensive to keep. This makes their meat a dollar a kg cheaper than beef. The Indian government has invested heavily in abattoirs. Recently released Ministry of Food Processing data showed that India exported 1.89 million tonnes of beef in 2012-2013, which is a 50 per cent increase over five years ago."
The study further says, "Among Indian states, Uttar Pradesh (UP) has emerged as the biggest exporter of buffalo meat, followed by Punjab and Maharashtra. Besides having the country's largest buffalo population, UP also has the highest number of abattoirs- cum-meat processing export units. The state has 317 registered slaughterhouses and, in addition, 24 export-oriented units for buffalo meat. Of the total Indian carabeef exports, 67% originates from this state."
As for Mumbai in Maharashtra, it has "a distinction of having Deonar abattoir – Asia's largest", the study says adding, "It has a capacity of about 4000 animals and recruit over 1200 people besides 30 medical professionals." As for Gujarat, "projected as a model Hindu state, the trade there has flourished under the kind protection of the state."
Thus, "data compiled by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry from Gujarat's Pollution Control Board reveals that meat production in the State, when Prime Minister Modi was its chief minister, more than doubled in 10 years. It was the time when Modi was taunting the Congress-led UPA of promoting 'Pink Revolution',", the study points out.
"Gujarat produced 22,000 tonnes of meat in 2010-11 against 10,600 tonnes of meat in 2001-02. During the same period, India's meat production grew from 18,59,430 tonnes to 48,69,000 tonnes, or by 163%. With 39 abattoirs, which slaughters over 1,000 animals a day, Gujarat is amongst the top 10 States in India in terms of the number of slaughterhouses", it adds.

Comments

Girl child education: 20 major states 'score' better than Gujarat, says GoI report

By Rajiv Shah
A Government of India report, released last month, has suggested that “model” Gujarat has failed to make any progress vis-à-vis other states in ensuring that girls continue to remain enrolled after they leave primary schools. The report finds that, in the age group 14-17, Gujarat’s 71% girls are enrolled at the secondary and higher secondary level, which is worse than 20 out of 22 major states for which data have been made available.

Savarkar in Ahmedabad "declared support" to two-nation theory in 1937, followed by Jinnah three years later

By Our Representative
One of the top freedom fighters whom BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi revere the most, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, was also a great supporter of the two nation theory for India, one for Hindus another for Muslims, claims a new expose on the man who is also known to be the original proponent of the concept of Hindutva.

Congress 'promises' cancellation of Adani power project: Jharkhand elections

Counterview Desk
Pointing out that people's issues take a backseat in Jharkhand's 2019 assembly elections, the state's civil rights organization, the Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha, a coalition of activists and people’s organisations, has said that political parties have largely ignored in their electoral manifestos the need to implement the fifth schedule of the Constitution in a predominantly tribal district.

Hindutva founders 'borrowed' Nazi, fascist idea of one flag, one leader, one ideology

By Shamsul Islam*
With the unleashing of the reign of terror by the RSS/BJP rulers against working-class, peasant organizations, women organizations, student movements, intellectuals, writers, poets and progressive social/political activists, India also witnessed a series of resistance programmes organized by the pro-people cultural organizations in different parts of the country. My address in some of these programmes is reproduced here...
*** Before sharing my views on the tasks of artists-writers-intellectuals in the times of fascism, let me briefly define fascism and how it is different from totalitarianism. Totalitarianism is political concept, a dictatorship of an individual, family or group which prohibits opposition in any form, and exercises an extremely high degree of control over public and private life. It is also described as authoritarianism.
Whereas fascism, while retaining all these repressive characteristics, also believes in god-ordained superiority of race, cultur…

Ex-World Bank chief economist doubts spurt in India's ease of doing business rank

By Rajiv Shah
This is in continuation of my previous blog where I had quoted from a commentary which top economist Prof Kaushik Basu had written in the New York Times (NYT) a little less than a month ago, on November 6, to be exact. He recalled this article through a tweet on November 29, soon after it was made known that India's growth rate had slumped (officially!) to 4.5%.

With RSS around, does India need foreign enemy to undo its democratic-secular fabric?

By Shamsul Islam*
Many well-meaning liberal and secular political analysts are highly perturbed by sectarian policy decisions of RSS/BJP rulers led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, especially after starting his second inning. They are vocal in red-flagging lynching incidents, policies of the Modi government on Kashmir, the National Register of Citizens (NRC), the demand for 'Bharat Ratna' to Savarkar who submitted 6-7 mercy petitions to the British masters (getting remission of 40 years out of 50 years' sentence), and the murder of constitutional norms in Goa, Karnataka and now in Maharashtra.

Post-Balakot, danger that events might spiral out of control is 'greater, not less'

By Tapan Bose*
The fear of war in South Asia is increasing. Tensions are escalating between India and Pakistan after the Indian defence minister's announcement in August this year that India may revoke its current commitment to only use nuclear weapons in retaliation for a nuclear attack, known as ‘no first use’. According to some experts who are watching the situation the risk of a conflict between the two countries has never been greater since they both tested nuclear weapons in 1998.

Rushdie, Pamuk, 260 writers tell Modi: Aatish episode casts chill on public discourse

Counterview Desk
As many as 260 writers, journalists, artists, academics and activists across the world, including Salman Rushdie, British Indian novelist, Orhan Pamuk, Turkish novelist and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in literature, and Margaret Atwood, Canadian poet and novelist, have called upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to review the decision to strip British Indian writer Aatish Taseer of his overseas Indian citizenship.

Worrying signs in BJP: Modi, Shah begin 'cold-shouldering' Gujarat CM, party chief

By RK Misra*
The political developments in neighbouring Maharashtra where a Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government assumed office has had a trickle down effect in Gujarat with both the ruling BJP and the Congress opposition going into revamp mode.

Ships recycling Bill 'allows' India to be turned into a landfill for foreign hazardous waste

Counterview Desk
In a letter to M Venkaiah Naidu, chairman, Rajya Sabha, senior activist Gopal Krishna of the Toxics Watch Alliance has said that the Recycling of Ships Bill, 2019 should be referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment, Forests and Climate Change to "safeguard country’s maritime environment from harmful and hazardous wastes and materials".

Counterview

Search This Blog